The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) has backed off from trying to revoke the federal firearms license (FFL) of Kiloton Tactical, LLC after Gun Owners of America (GOA) stepped in to help the gun store sue the government over President Joe Biden’s zero-tolerance policy for minor mistakes. The case is Kiloton Tactical, LLC v. ATF.
In late August, AmmoLand News reported on a local ATF industry operations inspector (IOI) who seized Kiloton Tactical’s bound book and all the company’s completed ATF Form 4473s with customer information. The IOI took the documents off-site and returned the paperwork a week later. This seizure of the records violated federal law.
The statute reads: “The inspections and examinations provided by this section do not authorize an ATF officer to seize any records or documents other than those records or documents constituting material evidence of a violation of law. If an ATF officer seizes such records or documents, copies shall be provided to the licensee within a reasonable time.”
The ATF would issue a revocation letter to the store over minor paperwork errors. The ATF has been revoking FFLs at a record pace since President Biden introduced his zero-tolerance policy for “rogue gun dealers.” Many FFLs believe that Biden’s ATF has declared war on gun stores and look for any minor error to revoke FFLs.
Some believe the ATF dropping the revocation was a way to moot the case and protect its zero-tolerance policy. The ATF has reversed its decisions to revoke other FFLs after being sued. In GOA’s case against the ATF final rule on frames and receivers, the named plaintiff, Morehouse Enterprises, also received a revocation letter for minor paperwork errors. The Bureau dropped the revocation after GOA helped the gun store sue the ATF.
Even though Kiloton Tactical no longer faces the threat of FFL revocation and the ATF has renewed the store’s FFL, the plaintiffs continue to seek a preliminary injunction against the zero-tolerance policy.
The ATF claims there is no longer irreparable harm since it isn’t seeking to revoke the gun store’s FFL. It also alleges that the plaintiffs are trying to undermine the Bureau’s authority to inspect gun stores and take enforcement actions against FFLs for violations. The ATF also claims that Kiloton Tactical could have challenged the revocation through the ATF’s administrative procedures but sued the government instead.
“Plaintiffs here seek to undermine ATF’s established inspection and enforcement processes in two ways,” the ATF said in its response. “First, Plaintiffs seek to preliminarily enjoin the potential license revocation/non-renewal of Plaintiff Kiloton Tactical, LLC (‘Kiloton’). But the proper way to challenge a threatened license revocation is through established administrative procedures and subsequent judicial review. Here ATF determined not to issue a Final Notice of Denial as to Kiloton. In other words, Kiloton’s license was renewed for a standard three-year period. There is accordingly no license revocation to enjoin, nor any other imminent, irreparable harm to Kiloton that could justify a preliminary injunction.”
The court will rule on the preliminary injunction in the upcoming weeks. This case isn’t the only lawsuit challenging the Biden zero-tolerance policy. Eric Blandford of IraqVeteran8888 is also leading a legal challenge to the policy.
About John Crump
John is a NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. He has written about firearms, interviewed people of all walks of life, and on the Constitution. Mr. Crump lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons and can be followed on Twitter at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Wait, if I do something which is ‘unauthorized’ I go to jail. So is the ATF agent who stole the records, an act which was ‘unauthorized,’ is HE going to jail? Lemme guess…..no. How do I know? Because in the leftist’s utopia, which is the Obiden administration, only conservatives have to obey the law. Leftist tyrants do not.
And the crux of all of this criminality of the ATF (a-holes, traitors and FREAKS) is the completely corrupted legal system! That is how they get away with it, until someone begins using the legal system against them too!! But here’s the ultimate move to make to get out from under all of this tyranny and boots stomping on your face forever! Just expose the crimes of the legal system and demand to know what allows them to go on without any kind of punishment, like you or I would suffer if we did the exact same thing! Have you… Read more »
Funny….never see the NRA behind any of these fights. It’s always GOA and FPC. Wayne’s salary alone could cover every one of these…..
My money will go in support of the latter groups
Maybe because NRA’s sole focus is to keep folks out of jail?
“Maybe because NRA’s sole focus is to keep ^their^ folks out of jail?”
There, fixed it for you.
As usual it depends. Depending on the particulars potential time in the pokey ranges from 1 to 30 years.
https://codes.findlaw.com/us/title-18-crimes-and-criminal-procedure/18-usc-sect-1028/
Then why isn’t the NRA doing that, if it’s their “job”? NRA stands for No Real Action when it comes to preserving our 2A rights! It’s nothing but a HUGE con game that is fleecing people left and right! If the DOJ was really serious about prosecuting crimes, they would go after the NRA and put them out of business under the RICO statutes!! But they won’t do that, because the NRA is just one of their tools that they use to keep the people placated and docile. Wayne LaPierre is more like Pepe’ Le Peau!! He’s a real stinker!!
I gave up on the NRA decades ago! GOA gets my money!
As a lifetime member of NRA, they haven’t seen one red cent from me since the real WLP was exposed. All my donations go to SAF, GOA and FPC.
ah, so they pulled the revocation. They only did it to take the heat off of themselves. In typical government dictatorship fashion, I am sure they will be back for retribution later.
The Gestapo hates to lose.
even with a cease and desist, like the other criminals at fbi judges rulings will be ignored
It wouldn’t surprise me one little bit if they came to his house at 3AM with helicopters, battering rams and a SWAT team and “accidentally” shot him a dozen times in the head while he was trying to put his pajamas on!
It took the AFT a week to copy all the FFLs docs and add them to their Registry
Exactly – or at least to copy them all. They can take their time entering the records into their database from the copies. You can bet that if there had been no push-back, the FFL would not have been reinstated – too little too late ATF. That seems to be their MO; confiscate the documents and revoke the license (so no further transfers can take place while the 4473s are copied). If no squawks from the FFL, that’s it – he’s out of business, on to the next. Personally, I don’t care whether the marching orders were issued by the… Read more »
All feds are “sworn.” Whether one has arrest powers or not, all swear an oath to … support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic… They don’t get a pass.
They do use sworn agents to do (at least some of) the copying. There is recorded evidence of OIO inspectors using their phone’s camera (theirs or GI? Unknown.) to photograph the contents of the dealer’s bound books. ATF Director Doodlebug admitted in a congressional hearing that he has a team dedicated to entering 4473 information into his searchable and illegal database.
The entire legal system which not only allows but encourages these abuses of fake power and authority, is what really needs to be dissolved!!
Predators don’t usually look for a fight. They look for easy pickings and a meal. When the prey looks like its more trouble than its worth, they move on to another.
And you made the strongest claim for armed law-abiding citizenry.
that is the way they are acting, and it needs to be in front of a judge
But the judges are all fakes and criminals anyway, so what’s the point?? You need to read my papers exposing the scams and other crimes of the legal system and wake up!
CLASSIC COMMUNIST BULLY TACTICS. TO USE LAWFARE AGAINST AMERICANS TO FORCE THEM INTO BANKRUPTCY.
IT MATTERS LITTLE IF THE ATF VIOLATES EVERY LAW ON THE BOOKS. THEY WILL EVENTUALLY WIN BECAUSE THE ONLY EFFECTIVE WAY TO DESTROY THE DEEP STATE IS
ANOTHER REVOLUTIONARY WAR. AND CURRENT DAY AMERICANS ARE FAR TOO WEAK AND STUPID TO GO TO WAR TO PRESERVE THEIR LIBERTIES
AND YES I AM SHOUTING.
So stop shouting, Jackie
No, he should keep right on shouting from the rooftops, because too many people are still fast asleep!
Jaque, we can win this war against tyranny without a single drop of blood being spilled or one shot being fired! The way to do it, is to dismantle the 100% corrupted legal system that allows and even foments the acts of tyranny! We can put the criminal enterprise we call the legal system out of business by refusing to do any business with it! Have you taken the time to read any of my papers about the legal system yet? If not, then why not? The legal system is a business that was set up to rip us off… Read more »
Yeah, I’d sue the government as well, like one is supposed to trust the “administrative process” run by the goons trying to shut you down.
Fatf!
No mention of the FFL’s and GOA’s attorney fees being reimbursed. Where the charges of civil rights violations under color of the law?
Virtually everything the government goons do is done under color of law, because they operate off of the basic premise that everyone is under some kind of contract with them, which is a total fallacy! If you look up the definitions of the word Contract, you will see that ALL of the terms of the contract must be viewable by all and you must agree to them all, or you just don’t have a contract, it’s a nullity or some kind of a scam! Anything that is alleged to be a contract is vacated for fraud, threat, duress, coercion, mistake,… Read more »
Please READ and HEED:
If Biden, or ANY Democrat “WIns” the WH and at least ONE of the houses of Congress in 2024,
there will NOT be an Election in 2026,
or 2028,
or 2030,
OR…………………….
GET THE PICTURE?
Not really. What drugs are you on this week?
Why don’t you just go and play with yourself in the corner, Rob, and leave the adults alone? No one will miss you at all, since you don’t have anything worthwhile to contribute to the group.
The ATF doesn’t play poker very well.
Pro Tip.
Instead of an injunction, maybe filing federal criminal charges against the agent, the regional director, and the executive director would curtail this tyrannical activity.